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CORVALLIS - Oregon State University on Wednesday unveiled its plan to attract top students and faculty and to play a more prominent role in solving complex social, economic and environmental problems by focusing on five key intellectual themes over the next several years.

The themes - Natural Resources; Health and Biosciences; Earth Systems Science; Engineering, Business and Technology; and Letters, Arts and Sciences - will become the university's priorities in teaching, research and service, said OSU President Tim White. They also will be a focal point for fund-raising, investment and hiring, he added.

"We are in an era when public expectations for our programs and services are more demanding, yet the state share of funding for public universities continues to decrease," White said. "Oregon State University is jumping ahead of the curve by focusing our priorities on areas that have the greatest need as well as the greatest potential for additional resources - whether those resources be in the form of top students, research grants or private gifts.

"Essentially, we're trying to better control our own destiny and make more of an impact in the state, the region and the world," White added.

Implementation of the plan, which evolved out of the university's comprehensive "OSU 2007" strategy initiative, will take some time. White said the university needs to engage its many constituents and stakeholders, and a new president will have to get involved in the process. White, the former OSU provost who was named president for an interim period late last fall, said the university had the strong endorsement of Oregon University System Chancellor Richard Jarvis, and the Oregon State Board of Higher Education to proceed with the plan.

Candidates for the OSU presidency will be announced soon, OUS officials say.

The OSU plan has numerous elements that tie back to the five theme areas. One of them is a research park that would promote innovation and help stimulate the local and state economy through start-up companies and new technologies.

Partnerships will play a significant role in OSU's future success, White said. Plans already are under way to team with the University of Oregon and other OUS institutions, Oregon Health & Science University, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and industry to develop at least two signature research centers, including one in multiscale materials and devices.

As part of the plan, the university will encourage inter- and multidisciplinary teaching and research to the greatest extent possible. White said the organizational structure of the university likely will evolve over time to better support OSU's primary core missions of research, teaching and engagement.

Two pairs of colleges - Liberal Arts and Science, and Agricultural Sciences and Forestry - will be charged to evaluate the merits of integrating and coordinating programs to provide for greater opportunities in learning and research, greater value for stakeholders, and economic efficiencies.

The approach is similar to what the university used successfully to create the College of Health and Human Sciences in 2002.

"The timing for considering program integration in agriculture and forestry is ideal to capitalize on the combined impacts of two world-class programs at OSU," said Hal Salwasser, dean of the College of Forestry and director of the Oregon Forest Research Laboratory.

"Oregon's future depends on the health and productivity of our natural resources and their associated businesses and communities," Salwasser said. "Almost everything in forestry, agriculture and natural resources these days crosses multiple disciplines. Working more closely together, we can deliver tremendous economic, environmental and community benefits for the state of Oregon and the world."

Salwasser said the integrated programs "will do this through stronger interdisciplinary education, research and public services for all sectors of society."

"The new knowledge and outreach will help keep Oregon's natural resource enterprises in global leadership positions, be they water quality, quantity and watershed health, forest products, agricultural products, value-added food and fiber products, marine resources, natural resource conservation, outdoor recreation and tourism, or fisheries and wildlife."

Thayne Dutson, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, said the university will engage faculty, staff, students, stakeholders and constituents in designing a 21st-century model for natural resources education, research and service.

"It is important for people to realize that 'agriculture' and 'forestry' will not only remain prominent, top-tier programs in OSU's future," Dutson emphasized. "They hold strong promise to be made even stronger through the synergy of collaboration and growth. Natural resources are among the foundations of what Oregonians value - for contributions to the economy, to the environment and Oregon's beauty, and to livable communities.

"As we proceed toward greater integration of natural resource programs at OSU, we will be better able to contribute in a positive way to what Oregonians value," Dutson added.

White said the university will back up the strategic plan by shifting investment strategies toward supporting the five theme areas.

The strategic plan also has a financial component; part of the plan calls for reducing academic and non-academic administration by 20 percent over the next four years and channeling those funds into academic areas. Another goal is to expand the university's annual sponsored research by 50 percent.

Ultimately, White said, the university needs to launch a significant, university-wide capital campaign to support the strategic initiatives.

"We have a choice," White said. "We can either sit idly by and watch our programs continue to erode through a lack of state funding, or we can focus on what we do best - and what we want to do best - and regain control in our future.

"Change is difficult," he acknowledged. "But the cost of not changing is prohibitive."

OSU's strategic plan is the result of a lengthy planning process that involved literally hundreds of students, faculty, staff, constituents and stakeholders in "thousands of conversations," White said. The strategic plan evolved from a university process called OSU 2007, which invited the campus community - and constituents and stakeholders - to help shape and create the university's future.

A series of recommendations came out of the OSU 2007 process and were submitted to Sabah Randhawa, Oregon State's provost and executive vice president. Randhawa used those recommendations, and the work of several other groups - including the Oregon University System and the Oregon Council for Knowledge and Economic Development - to draft a strategic plan. White has spent the past several weeks gaining feedback and fine-tuning the plan.

Details of the plan are available via the web on OSU's homepage at: www.oregonstate.edu.